


We need a title! (At least 1 characters long, please.)

by John_Q_Sample



Category: Darkwing Duck (Cartoon 1991)
Genre: A Ridiculous Amount Of Fight Scenes, Alternate Dimension, Found Family, Gen, Post-Canon, Really Unfortunate Father-Daughter Relationships, The Negaverse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-23
Updated: 2019-02-23
Packaged: 2019-11-04 12:19:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17898320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/John_Q_Sample/pseuds/John_Q_Sample
Summary: In which Gosalyn Mallard - otherwise known as the seventeen-year-old hero Quiverwing Quack - accidentally enters the Negaverse.





	We need a title! (At least 1 characters long, please.)

Gosalyn skids onto the road. Luckily, with her hands gloved, she doesn’t skin them when she catches herself. However, her wrists begin to ache a bit from the way she catches herself. As she rubs the pain out of her wrists, she stands and views the city around her.

It certainly isn’t her own St. Canard. The streets are lined with litter, smog and fumes poison the air, and the skies are about ten shades darker than the usual dull St. Canard skies. Most poignantly, though: no one’s outside. Absolutely no one.

She’s alone.

Which is concerning, given that she was with her father just a few seconds ago. She remembers tripping; did she hit her head on something? That must be it. This is all a dream, and in a few minutes, she’ll wake up to Drake hugging her and panicking over her safety. She’ll just have to wait it out until that happens.

Staying put grows immediately boring, though. Even though it’s what you’re supposed to do when you get lost, Gosalyn can’t help but explore. Anyway, not only is she turning eighteen in a few months, but she’s also Quiverwing Quack, the semi-famous vigilante daughter of Darkwing Duck himself. She can handle a little bit of confusion.

Gosalyn walks down the streets and occasionally has to kick away an aluminum can or a scrap of paper. She finds a newspaper on the ground and picks it up to view the headline.

“Negaduck Passes New Security Laws”

Which doesn’t make sense, of course, but she barely registers what it says. Gosalyn trashes the newspaper in the nearest bin she can find—which is empty, and given the amount of litter on the streets, that’s unsurprising—and keeps walking as she contemplates what the headline could mean. Negaduck hasn’t come to St. Canard for a few months now; then again, this isn’t St. Canard. Maybe this is where he comes from? Drake  _ did _ say it was from another city (and never once elaborated).

But how did she get  _ here _ ?

“Hello,” Gosalyn calls out into the empty streets. “Anybody there?”

Her voice echoes across the buildings, but no response comes. A crawling sensation makes its way across her skin.

“Chill  _ out _ , Gos,” she mutters to herself as she heads across the streets. “It’s just a slow day. Everyone’s on a trip somewhere, or they’re napping at home! Yeah, that’s what’s going on. It’s just some holiday I’ve never heard of where everyone here stays at home.”

She picks up her speed as she heads down the streets. The city’s starting to give her the creeps, and she’s wondering if it would have been better to have just stayed where she landed.

The sound of happy chatter immediately throws that idea out the window, though.

Gosalyn locates the sound as coming from an alley and rushes in that direction. She has one hand gripping her bow and the other propped on the quiver of arrows at her back, just in case the person talking is actually some sort of bad guy. That doesn’t stop her excitement upon hearing  _ someone _ out in the city.

She approaches a warehouse, which has a giant box in front of it. As Gosalyn gets closer, she hesitates; it has a handle turning on the side. A jack-in-the-box!

A giant stuffed clown bursts out of the top. On a spring, it jumps up and down while manic laughter can be heard from within the box.

Gosalyn cries out in panic and stumbles onto her back. She shuffles away from it and gasps to catch her breath. Suddenly, someone is at her side, pulling her up to her feet.

“I’m so sorry, kid! I was just testing out one of my new toys! I didn’t mean to startle you!”

The voice is familiar, but the face is undeniably resemblant of Quackerjack from her own universe, only now with a comically large pair of goggles that magnify his eyes. He pulls them away from his face as he talks to her.

Gosalyn wrenches her arm away from his gentle grasp and leaps back. “Quackerjack! What are  _ you _ doing here?”

“What are you talking about? I live here! I should be asking the same question to you. Let me put Jack away.”

He gestures with his thumb towards the jack-in-the-box.

“What’s all the ruckus?” comes a garbled voice. A puddle of water slithers towards them, then forms into the shape of a dog.

“The Liquidator?” Gosalyn turns, face aghast, back towards the clown. “Is the whole Fearsome Four here?”

“Fearsome Four?” Quackerjack lets out a comically nervous laugh. “Oh, no, you must have us mistaken. We’re the Friendly Four!”

“Friendly Four,” Gosalyn repeats. “Like you stopped committing crimes and became a superhero group all in one day? I’m not buying it.”

“I think I understand what’s going on here,” the Liquidator responds. He sloshes over to Quackerjack and whispers something into his ear, to which he gasps out in shock.

“No way! You must be from St. Canard!” Quackerjack bounces towards her. “Not this St. Canard, though, the other one.”

“The  _ other _ St. Canard?”

Footsteps. Gosalyn whips around and finds Megavolt and Professor Bushroot behind her. Spinning on her heel, she realizes she’s completely surrounded.

“Alright, you four, you better start telling me what’s going on, or  _ else _ ,” she hisses out, reaching for her bow.

“I think I can explain.”

This voice is completely unfamiliar. It belongs to a girl with curly red hair and a plain white dress. She walks in between Megavolt and Professor Bushroot and smiles nervously at Gosalyn.

“Are you...Darkwing Duck’s daughter?”

“I am,” Gosalyn responds, narrowing her eyes.

“Then you must be Gosalyn Mallard! I’ve heard about you, from Darkwing, of course. You should come inside.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“No, really, it’s safer in there than it is out here. And I can make you some hot cocoa if you want.”

It sounds good, but Gosalyn suspects there’ll be something more sinister about it. Still, she puts the bow down and follows the girl into the warehouse. The other four follow along, too, and the jack-in-the-box closes up on its own.

The warehouse still looks like a warehouse, but it’s clear there were some attempts to make it more of a home. There’s furniture separated into specific rooms, but no walls, and at the end of the warehouse there are even bedrooms. The girl leads Gosalyn towards the kitchen-esque area, which has a small collection of mismatched stools around a counter. As they sit down, the Friendly Four stand awkwardly around the room, almost as if waiting to be invited in.

“You come from St. Canard, right?” the girl asks. “The other St. Canard?”

“This is the second time I’ve heard that. What’s the other St. Canard?!”

“Well, there’s St. Canard and the Negaverse St. Canard,” the girl explains. “You’re in the Negaverse one right now. Most people in your St. Canard don’t know about this one, but your father came here a few times. He helped us learn how to fight  _ my _ father.”

Gosalyn furrows her brow suspiciously. “Who would that be?”

“Negaduck is my legal guardian,” the girl responds. Her answer sounds rehearsed. “My name’s Gosalyn Mallard, too. But you can just call me Lyn to prevent any confusion.”

“No way, I don’t believe you! This is probably a really weird trick, isn’t it?”

“We wouldn’t do that to you!” Lyn says. “The Friendly Four and I are trying to  _ stop _ my father from committing crimes. We wouldn’t want to hurt Darkwing Duck’s daughter!”

“Quiverwing Quack,” Gosalyn corrects.

“Oh, what a nice name.”

Gosalyn narrows her eyes. “You can’t really be serious about the Negaverse.”

“We are, even though it’s hard to believe. What did your dad tell you about Negaduck?”

Gosalyn thinks back. “That he’s evil, rotten, mischievous, generally unpleasant to be around, and that he doesn’t live in St. Canard. Also that I’m not supposed to fight him without telling Dad first since he’s the second worst criminal in all of St. Canard.”

The Liquidator puts down two mugs of hot chocolate that Gosalyn didn’t notice he was making. He hands out some to the other people in the house.

“Thank you, Mr. Flood.” Lyn takes a sip from her mug. “Darkwing probably didn’t want to scare you by telling you about the Negaverse, or maybe he thought you would never come here. If I had a daughter, I wouldn’t want her to be here, either. It’s a dangerous place.”

“St. Canard is already dangerous.”

“Oh, but my father runs everything here. We’re the only ones who try to stop him, and technically  _ I _ can’t even do that. He doesn’t know I’m here.”

Gosalyn glances at the other four.

“So they’re really good guys?”

“Of course they are.”

“And you’re really me, but different?”

“Well, I don’t know about that. I would say we’re both two different people, just with similar looks and the same name. We have completely different lives.”

Gosalyn takes a deep breath that shudders throughout her. Against her better judgment, she takes a sip of the hot chocolate.

“Is Negaduck here? In this St. Canard?”

“He would be in his building, in the center of St. Canard. He’s always working, which is why I’m able to come here so often.”

“So he doesn’t know you’re here?”

“Not at all. That would make him furious! He already doesn’t like my friends, and I’m also lying to him about where I am. He can’t stand it when people like me lie to him.”

“But I don’t think he’s going to figure out,” Megavolt points out.

“Gosalyn’s been living with us since she was nine,” Bushroot adds.

“Uh-huh,” Gosalyn says. She’s not sure she likes the way the Friendly Four talk; they feel so awkward in comparison to her very own Fearsome Four. But these ones aren’t threatening her or kidnapping her, so that’s a step up at the very least.

“You can stay here if you want to,” Lyn says, “but I bet your father’s pretty worried about you back home.”

“That’s the thing. I don’t know how I got here, or how I would get back.”

“Oh...” Lyn glances at the others. “Do you think my father would be opening up portals again?”

“That’s unlikely!” the Liquidator says. “He’s so busy dealing with us that he doesn’t have time to handle other dimensions right now.”

“Still, he’s been unusually quiet lately...”

“Does that mean he’s in the normal St. Canard?” Gosalyn asks. “Maybe he went over there while I came over here”

“It could be. Or he might not have actually gone yet. Where did you arrive?”

Gosalyn considers it. “I was out on the streets, I guess. I was walking for a few minutes before I found this place.”

“Probably farther away from the tower, then...I wonder what he was planning!”

“Maybe I should stay here and find out,” Gosalyn suggests.

Everyone looks up with an expression of shock that says that even though they definitely want that to happen, they would have never considered saying it out loud.

“If you don’t  _ mind _ me staying,” Gosalyn adds. “I’ve defeated Negaduck before, and loads of other villains, with and without my dad. With the five of you helping, I could probably deal with him _ easily _ !”

“But it could get dangerous.”

“‘Danger’ is my middle name!”

“No it’s not,” Quackerjack says with a nervous laugh. “If Lyn doesn’t have a middle name, which she doesn’t, then neither do you.”

Gosalyn huffs and crosses her arms. “You know, you’re a lot weirder than St. Canard Quackerjack.”

“Why don’t you tell us more about your St. Canard?” Lyn asks. “We’ve never been there before, but it sounds lovely. What’s it like?”

As the others gather around the counter in the kitchen, Gosalyn begins recounting tales in no particular order. She talks about the time Tuskerninni temporarily moved into their home and the time she was kidnapped into a sewer and forced to build toys (though for the sake of the current company she’s keeping, she conveniently leaves out who was responsible for the kidnapping) and the time she won a hockey game and then broke her ankle only three seconds after. The stories range from fun to genuinely concerning, yet the others are completely fascinated by all of it.

A version of St. Canard that isn’t overrun with criminals is an incredibly new concept to them, and the more Gosalyn realizes this, the sadder she feels for them. Their lives are comprised entirely of danger. And it’s not like Gosalyn and Drake who choose to go and fight crime that they could probably easily avoid; these five have no choice. Of course, the Friendly Four have it more dangerous than the rest, given that they’re working directly against Negaduck rather than just following along with everything he says, but Gosalyn finds it honorable that they’re doing this despite the risks. And in addition to their vigilante work, they’re taking care of Lyn—basically doing Negaduck’s job for him.

Eventually, Bushroot and Lyn go to make some dinner; Gosalyn tries to help but has no idea where anything in the kitchen is. They end up with a nice pasta dish that Bushroot and the Liquidator don’t eat, given what exactly they are. (The Liquidator still makes sure to compliment the cooking, and Gosalyn’s sure there’s some quote from a cooking show she’s never seen in his words.)

Once dinner is done, Lyn says, “I’ll go sleep on the couch. Gosalyn, you should take my bed.”

“No, I’ll sleep on the couch.”

“Come on. You’re the guest!”

“Yeah, and guests usually sleep on couches, at least where I come from.”

After a bit of uncomfortably polite squabbling, the argument is deemed useless, and Gosalyn absolutely refuses to get up from the couch anyway. Eventually, Lyn brings over some pillows and blankets, and they make the couch up into a bed that actually looks incredibly comfortable. Lyn also offers up a spare pair of pajamas, which, of course, fit Gosalyn perfectly.

But Gosalyn can’t sleep well in the warehouse. Both Quackerjack  _ and _ Megavolt snore in their sleep. The greenhouse used as Bushroot’s bedroom keeps scaring her, and the rubber duck in the Liquidator’s tub keeps spinning around in a way that would make Gosalyn think it’s haunted. Eventually, she gets up and pours herself a glass of water from the tap. She drinks it down, washes it out, and sets it back out on the counter.

She misses her dad. Also, when she begins to think about it, she misses Launchpad, Morgana, and Honker.

She’s not sure if she’ll ever get home.

Lyn approaches her quietly. “Hi, Gosalyn. How are you feeling?”

“Oh, I’m just having trouble sleeping. I’ll be fine.” Gosalyn looks up. “Hey, isn’t Negaduck wondering where you are right now?”

“No, he’s spending the night in his office.”

“Really?”

Lyn nods. “He has a suite there. I’ve been to it once. Launchpad may be wondering where I am, but he doesn’t usually mind when I disappear.”

“Launchpad...What’s he like here?”

“Mean and brash. What about in your world?”

“He’s basically a gentle giant.” Gosalyn glances out the windows; the city looks darker than before, miraculously. “Is it still not safe to go outside?”

Lyn considers it. “We  _ could _ go out into Professor Bushroot’s garden. It’s protected.”

“Okay.”

Lyn leads the guest out into the garden. It’s warm, and there are a few lights meant to mimic sunlight out in the room. There are trees, bushes, flowers, vegetables, and plants. Lyn sits down on one edge of a cool stone bench, and Gosalyn sits behind her.

“So how did you find these guys, anyway?”

“Oh, I heard my dad complaining about them,” Lyn says with a laugh. “Then I was out heading back from my dance class—I used to take dance, you see, until my dad suggested I quit—when I saw them trying to stop a crime. They had started working together without his knowledge. They knew who I was, but they said I could call them if I ever needed any help, and I always did.”

“And Dad...?”

“He came over one day and didn’t know he was in the Negaverse,” Lyn explains. “So naturally, he went home. Then he thought that Launchpad went mad and was trying to attack us, so he took me out of there. That’s when the Muddlefoots got involved, but the Friendly Four saved him from them. And that’s when he started helping them learn how to fight Negaduck. They’ve actually improved a lot because of it.”

“In my St. Canard, the ‘Friendly Four’ are the ‘Fearsome Four’.”

“Oh, I remember Darkwing saying something about that! What are they like?”

“I mean...” Gosalyn glances back at the warehouse, then shrugs. “Professor Bushroot is basically like every mad scientist from a horror movie. Megavolt used to be in Dad’s high school, only now all he does is steal lightbulbs and stuff. The Liquidator tried to poison everyone’s water so they’d have to buy his water bottles. Quackerjack’s the one who kidnapped me in the sewer!”

“Oh my,” Lyn whispers.

“I bet these guys are way nicer, huh?”

“For sure.”

“What happened to them, anyway? What are their backstories?”

“Professor Bushroot used to work in a normal laboratory. He wanted to make ducks photosynthetic so they wouldn’t ever have to eat anything if they didn’t want to, but his funding was cut, and he was sent out of the laboratory. Then he tested on himself, and even though it worked, it turned him into a plant. He tried getting revenge on the scientists who had bullied him, only he learned they were working for my dad, so he decided he would just fight crime instead.

“Mr. Sputterspark—I mean, Megavolt, he was bullied by my dad in high school. Then he was doing an experiment on static electricity and ended up becoming electric himself. After he figured out how to use his electricity, he decided he wanted to go and fight crime, too.

“Quackerjack used to run a toy company, Quackerjack Toys. I think Dad’s partially responsible for it going bankrupt, which is one of the reasons why Quackerjack doesn’t like him so much. There are a lot of others, though. Anyway, he kind of became the mascot of the company and kept making toys, but most of them are used to fight my dad.

“And Mr. Flood, or the Liquidator, he was actually trying to stop my dad from poisoning a water bottle company. He was just trying to report on what happened when Dad pushed him into the water, which as really acidic, and it caused him to kind of...melt.

“I just realized how long I’ve been talking,” Lyn finishes, hurriedly, “sorry.”

“Oh, I don’t mind. All this stuff is really neat! I mean, it’s interesting to hear how different it is from my St. Canard...I feel sorry for them.”

“They learned how to turn what happened to them into something good,” Lyn comments blankly, as if rehearsed.

“What about you? How come Negaduck adopted you in the first place? He doesn’t seem like a good dad.”

“I wouldn’t say he is...We kind of met on accident while he was trying to ‘get rid of’ some other criminals who were stopping him from doing whatever he wanted. I ended up staying with him once they were all gone, but then he stopped coming home and started spending more time in his office. At least he would leave Launchpad at home to help me.”

“Still, that’s horrible,” Gosalyn says. “You think you’re going to have a family, and then you’re just left alone!”

“It’s not entirely true. I’m with the Friendly Four.”

“What would Negaduck do if he found out you were here?”

Lyn’s eyes widen. She slumps down slightly and whispers, “I don’t want to talk about it. Let’s go back to bed, Gos. I hope you don’t mind me calling you ‘Gos’?”

*

Breakfast is toast, bacon, eggs, and some fruit from Bushroot’s garden. It’s the best breakfast Gosalyn has had in a while, but part of it is because she’s just relieved after the stressful night she had. She was lucky enough to get a few hours of sleep; after her conversation with Lyn, she had to take a bit to get used to the noises of the warehouse. It’s certainly an unfortunate place to live in, even if the residents are always happy about it.

“What are we going to do about Negaduck?” Gosalyn asks through a forkful of eggs. “I know we can’t just run into his office building, but I want to get the investigation started soon. Do we have any leads?”

“I guess I could ask Launchpad if he knows anything.” Lyn checks her watch. “I’m actually due home in less than an hour anyway. Oh, I should probably go and get my things.”

Gosalyn jumps down from her stool. “I’ll help!” It’s a shame to leave such a fantastic breakfast, but she wants another chance to talk to Lyn without the others listening in so closely.

Lyn’s “bedroom” (a bed propped onto a windowsill) is right between Megavolt’s and Quackerjack’s. It’s a wonder she ever sleeps, given Megavolt’s growing lightbulb collection (these ones are of course not stolen) and Quackerjack’s loud and sometimes creepy toys. But Lyn doesn’t seem to mind. She makes her bed and folds the spare clothing she brought with her. She places these items in a small bag, and on top of it all is a small stuffed animal.

“When’s the next time you can come here?” Gosalyn asks.

“Hm...Well, if Dad’s planning something, he’ll probably stay at the office even longer, or he might even go to your St. Canard, assuming he isn’t there already. As soon as I make sure Launchpad isn’t suspicious of anything, I’ll be able to come back. That would probably be around noon.”

“Got it. I guess I’ll stay with these guys and see what we can find out from here—”

The door on the other end of the warehouse slams open. Gosalyn hears the screams first, then turns and finds Negaduck along with someone who looks like if Launchpad went punk.

Gosalyn whips out her grappling hook, grabs onto Lyn, and flies into the rafters. They land safely on a small wooden floor that would allow entry to the roof. But Gosalyn doesn’t want to risk alerting Negaduck to their whereabouts. He didn’t see them in the corner of the warehouse, and he’s certainly not paying attention to them now.

“Stay here,” Gosalyn whispers.

She pulls out her bow and grabs an arrow. A few seconds to aim—oh, why does Negaduck have to move so quickly?—and then she fires, right into his shoulder. Negaduck hisses with pain and grabs his shoulder.

Then Gosalyn swoops down in his direction. She fires another arrow in Launchpad’s direction, but she doesn’t have time to aim properly, and he narrowly dodges it. It also almost hits Megavolt, who was previously cowering behind Launchpad and now looks incredibly panicked. Gosalyn lands roughly on the ground, but she straightens her balance as quickly as possible.

“You leave them alone!” Gosalyn growls, already aiming another arrow at the criminal duck.

Negaduck twists his gaze towards Launchpad, in a silent gesture telling him to keep the Friendly Four still, but not to hurt any of them.

“You must be the Quiverwing Quack,” he hisses out, each word deliberate and venomous. “Ol’ Darkwing finally gave up and sent some kid out in his place, huh. Unfortunately for you, I don’t have time to humor your dreams of becoming a little superhero.” He seizes the collar of his shirt. “You understand?”

“No, wait a minute—”

He throws her across the room. Actually throws her, one-armed, as if it takes no effort. Her wide eyes turn towards the wall. She shields her head, bracing for impact. Then her body hits the floor. She catches herself, rolls, and gets up again.

“Launchpad!” Negaduck growls, and the larger bird forces the rest of the Friendly Four out of the warehouse.

“Wait!”

Gosalyn sprints after them, only to get, once again, knocked aside by Negaduck. This time she hits the ground harder, and she struggles to catch her breath.

Negaduck presses his foot against his chest. Gosalyn lets out a wheeze. He still has the arrow in his shoulder, likely waiting to have it removed professionally to prevent further injury, but he doesn’t seem particularly bothered by it now. He glares at Gosalyn with a dangerously calm sense of anger.

“Don’t come after us. You’re not invited.”

He curls his hand into a fist and takes a swing at her head.

*

“Oh, I wish I could have helped her, but she told me to stay hidden, and...”

“It was probably safer for you to have stayed, Gosalyn. If you hadn’t, then no one would be here to help her.”

The second voice in the room sounds incredibly familiar, yet simultaneously false. It must be the Negaverse version of someone she knows in St. Canard.

“I guess you’re right. Thanks for coming over.”

“You’re welcome. I don’t mind at all, and besides, I was needing medical practice anyway.”

“Tanker Muddlefoot!” Gosalyn gasps out as she sits up straight in the bed. Her head swims with pain, and she collapses back onto her elbows.

But the person beside Lyn is, without a doubt, Tanker. At least, the Negaverse version. He wears large, circular glasses—similar to the ones Honker from her St. Canard would wear—and a pale green sweater. He is soft-spoken and incredibly polite, but the similarity is too much to ignore.

“Are you okay?” Lyn asks as she sits down on the edge of the bed.

Gosalyn realizes she’s lying on Lyn’s bed in the warehouse. She brings a hand to her head and touches a sore spot that has a small scab growing over it.

“What happened?”

“It was my father,” Lyn says. “He hit you on the head to knock you out. It wasn’t a fair fight.”

“I imagine he would be feeling worse than you are now, though,” Tanker says. “Gosalyn tells me you shot him in the shoulder with an arrow?”

Gosalyn nods blankly. Her mind races to catch up with everything that’s happened, and the splitting headache doesn’t help. On the plus side, she doesn’t seem to be suffering from any memory loss due to the injury. Her speech is fine, too; the main problems are just her headache and inability to get up without an overwhelming sense of vertigo.

“Where are the Friendly Four?”

“Dad took them to his building,” Lyn whispers. “He didn’t find me, but he wasn’t looking very hard. He wanted to get back to get the arrow taken out. If he comes back here...”

“Both Gosalyn’s house and my house are unsafe as well,” Tanker points out. “Mr. McQuack will likely be at home by now, and my home is the next closest place.”

“Then we better be on the move.”

“Gos, you’re hurt,” Lyn points out.

“I know, but I don’t want him to come back like this! Besides, who  _ knows _ what Negaduck is doing with the Friendly Four? Have you  _ seen _ what he does to his enemies?”

Lyn blanches. “I have.”

Gosalyn lets her feet drop onto the cold concrete floor. After a few seconds, she pushes herself up, only to collapse again. The second time, she has Lyn and Tanker on each side of her. They hold onto her arms for a few seconds, but after the black splotches disappear from her vision, Gosalyn is able to walk fairly decently, albeit slowly.

“If we go to his building,” Lyn points out, “it won’t be just him. It’ll be his guards, too. Are you sure you want to do this?”

“If I were you, I’d rest until the injury heals,” Tanker says.

“We don’t have time for that, though! Lyn, your friends are very nice, and I don’t want them to have to get hurt. I’ve seen what Negaduck can do, and it’s definitely not pleasant.”

Overcome with a fit of dizziness, Gosalyn slumps over Tanker’s shoulder.

“This is what I’m talking about,” Tanker says. “You’re not even fit to go on a walk around St. Canard, ours or yours. Anyway, we could use the time to plan.”

Tanker takes Gosalyn over to the kitchen. Gosalyn immediately sits down on one of the stools. Lyn grabs the one that has been knocked over and sets it up for Tanker to sit on.

“Can I get you anything, Gos?”

“Just water is fine...”

Lyn puts down a glass of water and then begins nervously cleaning up the rest of the kitchen. Because their breakfast was interrupted in the fight, some of the food is still out.

“You don’t have to clean it up right now,” Tanker says.

“I’m just so nervous, I don’t know what to do,” Lyn responds.

“How about you tell us more about Negaduck’s office?” Gosalyn asks. “Have you been there?”

“A few times, actually. But he usually likes to go there to get away from the people that annoy him, so I’m not allowed in there often.”

“What do you remember?”

Lyn pauses and places her hands on the counter as she considers it. She’s so still one might consider her frozen, but after a few seconds, she begins talking. “There are quite a lot of guards posted there. I remember two at the front, one in the lobby, and a few on each floor.”

“Oh, great, so it’s like a video game.”

“I guess so,” Lyn responds.

“Anything else?”

“Um...I think we would have to go under the tower,” Lyn says. “I mean, in the basement. There are a few floors underground, and usually he’ll keep people there. That’s why I was never allowed there.”

“I’m guessing there are probably more guards down there?”

“I think you need a key in the elevator to get down there,” Lyn adds. “Dad always keeps it with him, though. I’m not sure how we could get to it, especially not without him knowing.”

Gosalyn procures a small, purple smoke bomb out of one of the many protected pockets on her green suit. “I keep these on me for a situation just like that. Okay, well, I ‘borrowed’ it from my dad. If we get Negaduck cornered and set this off, he’ll be knocked out for at least an hour. Then we can take the key and get to the basement before he wakes up.”

Lyn closes her eyes as she recalls the layout of the building. Even though it’s been a while since she entered the building, she made sure to remember every detail she could about it. “There’s an elevator right across from his office. If we can get through the front lobby and go into that elevator, then it would be a straight shot to the office, right? And once we get the keys, it’d be the same, as long as the guards don’t notice us.”

“And as long as we get to the building without being spotted, I can probably find a way in, too.”

Gosalyn pushes herself up from the stool. Her dizziness has greatly decreased, and even though her head still hurts, she feels significantly better than before. She’s about to go and grab her bow and quiver of arrows when Lyn heads over and grabs it for her. With a frustrated feeling of hopelessness growing in her chest, Gosalyn puts the quiver and bow onto the strap on her back.

“We better walk there to keep a low profile,” Tanker points out, eyeing Gosalyn’s outfit nervously.

“And we better make it fast.”

“Are you sure you can do that without passing out?”

“Of course I can,” Gosalyn says, but as she heads out into the streets, she’s not so sure.

There are a few more people out on the streets this time. Lyn explains that the reason the streets were so empty last night is that it’s generally unsafe to be outside in this St. Canard. Negaduck is the cause of most of the crime that happens here, but other criminals are usually able to roam free, so long as they do not impede on Negaduck’s work (or his spotlight). Even with the aid of the Friendly Four, most people prefer to simply stay inside.

This, unfortunately, makes it difficult to disappear within the streets. Gosalyn feels as if she’s sticking out, like at any moment spotlights will shine on them, and a bunch of Negaduck’s goons will just come out to attack. But such an assault does not occur.

They hide out inside a bakery that looks like it’s about to be torn down; it’s directly across the street from Negaduck’s building, the tallest skyscraper in this St. Canard. Gosalyn squints at it through the dirtied, cracked window before ducking down.

“I hope no one saw us,” she says.

Tanker and Lyn sit on either side of her.

“If they did, we would have known by now,” Lyn points out. “So, how are we going to get in there?”

“Let me think.” Normally, Gosalyn would get up and pace around the building, but she’s not sure she’s up for it now. Anyway, she has to preserve her energy for getting into the building, handling the guards, and dealing with Negaduck. “If we get rid of the two guards at the front, and the one in the lobby, will other guards find out about it?”

“Probably,” Lyn admits. “I think they change out every few hours, so if one of the guards doesn’t report back to them, then they’ll report a problem. But...” Lyn hesitates.

“No, what’s your idea?” Gosalyn asks.

“Well, I’m not sure how well this could go down, but say I went over to the building telling them that I wanted to see my father. He’s angry with me, so he’d probably have the two guards take me up to his office. They’d change out the guards quickly, but if the guard in the lobby is distracted for long enough, and you get in quick enough...”

“I could go in with you,” Tanker offers. “If I stayed in the lobby with the other guard, Gosalyn—er, the Quiverwing Quack would probably have enough time to sneak into the elevator before the other guards come to the ground floor.”

“But I’m not leaving you in the lobby to deal with the rest of them,” Gosalyn says. “Either you run out of the building, or you come with me, okay?”

“Got it,” Tanker says with a resolute nod.

“Let’s go out the back and walk around the street. I don’t think anyone saw us come in here, but it’s better to be safe than sorry, right?” She turns and takes Gosalyn’s arm. “The key should be in the inner pocket of his jacket. Please be careful.”

“I’ll get you out of there before Negaduck can even  _ look _ at you,” Gosalyn promises.

With a resolute nod, Lyn gently takes Tanker’s elbow, and the two of them walk out of the back of the bakery. Gosalyn watches the streets. In less than a minute, they’re already around the building. Gosalyn watches as the two of them approach the guards. Lyn lets go of Tanker just in time for the two guards to grab her and bring her into the building. Then a third guard comes out from the lobby and brings Tanker inside.

After five seconds, Gosalyn can’t wait any longer. She sprints across the street and presses herself flat against the wall beside the door. Peering inside, she sees the guard with his back turned to the door as he’s talking to Tanker, who lets out a subtle nod that seems to tell her to come inside.

The door, well-oiled, opens silently. Gosalyn steps onto the carpet at the front as quietly as she can, and she painstakingly closes the door as slowly as possible. The guard continues his lecture on why Tanker should have told Negaduck of Lyn’s whereabouts  _ earlier _ and of how incredibly  _ annoying _ it is for the guards to be sent off-guard like this because who  _ knows _ who could sneak in while he’s so distracted.

There are two elevators, one of which is already in use. The second one is already on the ground floor; Gosalyn slips inside and presses the button for the top floor. When the doors are only two inches apart, the guard notices, but of course he doesn’t have time to catch up with her.

During the ride on the elevator, Gosalyn constantly braces herself for an attack. She knows that the elevator isn’t safe, but she’d rather keep her energy. Anyway, it would be difficult for the guards to get into the elevator on the move, or at least more difficult than slipping through the doorway of a staircase, with such a doorway being available on every floor.

She just hopes Lyn and Tanker are alright.

The elevator comes to a grinding halt, shaking Gosalyn so roughly that she nearly falls over. It was almost at the top floor, too! The doors of the floor below her slide open, and they’re big enough for someone of her size to slip through.

But there’s no time for her to consider this; a panel at the top of the elevator opens up, and Negaduck drops down on her. Gosalyn flings herself back before he can land on her. With less than a second to recover, she launches herself in his direction and attacks.

“You’re going to pay, kid!” he growls, swinging at her with his good arm.

Gosalyn dodges and makes a swipe at his leg, but he jumps back just in time. With her lower to the ground, he’s able to hit her and knock her over. Gosalyn shields herself from the first hit and grabs his wrist on the second. In the process of tugging him to the ground, she leaps to her own feet.

Negaduck pushes himself up, but the patched up injury in his shoulder still smarts, and he hits the ground again. Gosalyn jumps up, grabs the open panel of the elevator roof, and pulls herself frantically on top of it. By the time Negaduck’s back on his feet, she already has the smoke bomb firmly in her grasp.

“Suck gas, evildoer!” she cries as she throws it down onto the elevator. She slams the panel closed and keeps her hands pressed against it. One Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi, four Mississippi, five Mississippi...

Negaduck is unconscious. He lies face down with an audible snore. Dropping into the elevator again, Gosalyn checks his pulse. It’s steady, and he doesn’t react to having his wrist grabbed onto. Gosalyn turns him over and feels inside the interior pockets of his jacket. Luckily, she finds a small keyring within a few seconds.

With this elevator broken, she decides she’d better head to the other one. She slips out of the elevator, lands carefully on the ground, and checks the other elevator.

It’s on this floor. She tucks the key safely into the breast pocket of her jacket and braces herself from a fight.

But it’s only Lyn in the door.

“I locked the guard in Dad’s office,” Lyn says. “He wasn’t there when I went to get him.”

Gosalyn leaps into the elevator. “He attacked me on the way up. I knocked him out and got the key. Let’s get Tanker and go.”

It’s a risky move, leaving them open to the ground floor, but the last thing she wants to do is leave Tanker out to fend for himself. She steps up to the doorway as it opens up and gestures for Tanker to get over there as quickly as possible. He sprints to the door and jumps into the elevator; Lyn frantically jams the “door closed” button.

As the door slides closed, Gosalyn slips the key into the keyhole unlocking the below-ground button of the elevator. The elevator takes them downstairs and opens up within a few seconds.

It’s dark downstairs, and completely empty.

“Dad never trusted anyone to come down here,” Lyn explains.

Gosalyn steps out onto the tile floors. “So this is where he keeps people...?”

“Usually he tortures them, too,” Lyn says. She grabs Tanker’s hand. “Oh, I hope they’re okay!”

“They’re going to be soon, Lyn! C’mon!”

Gosalyn runs forward and wrenches open the first door she can find. Surprisingly, it’s unlocked, but she can see that there’s no knob on the other side, preventing the person inside from getting out.

Not like he could, though. It’s the Liquidator, completely frozen in ice. Gosalyn runs forward and pulls him out of the room.

“Mr. Flood!” Lyn cries out, putting her arms around him.

Tanker slips off his jacket and puts it over the frozen dog’s shoulders.

“Let’s split up and get the others,” Gosalyn says.

The Liquidator is left propped against the wall, and the three of them head in separate directions.

The door Gosalyn finds leads to a dark, dry room. As soon as she opens it up, a wilted plant comes crawling out—Professor Bushroot. In the light, he relaxes, but he’s still obviously not alright.

“When the Liquidator thaws out, he can probably get you some water,” Gosalyn explains as she brings the weakened plant towards his frozen friend.

Tanker finds a door leading to Quackerjack’s room. He’s completely tied up, unable to move in the slightest bit. (Negaduck even made a point to tie back the dangling ends of his jester hat.) Tanker rushes forward and tugs at the rope.

“It’s knotted. Hang on.”

Gosalyn lends him a knife, which he uses to cut away the ropes. Once freed, Quackerjack immediately bounces out of the room.

What Lyn finds is Megavolt’s room. He’s in a tub of water, with rubber floatation devices. He comes out shivering and weakened, but he’s still alright, and naturally relieved to see Lyn.

With the seven of them now in the middle of the room together, the next move is to plan an escape.

“I don’t think Negaduck’s awake yet, but the guards probably have some emergency protocol they have to do,” Gosalyn says. “And if we go out on the streets, then we have a bunch of people who are extremely ‘loyal’ to Negaduck who’ll probably attack us.”

“If my father knows where the warehouse is, then there’s nowhere that’s safe for us.”

“Not exactly,” Megavolt says. He has an arm around a panicked Quackerjack. “We all have our own houses. A little run-down, but Negaduck won’t expect us to be there.”

“Which one’s closest to us?” Gosalyn asks.

Both Quackerjack and the Liquidator are unable to speak for different reasons, meaning that they can’t give directions, and given the current health of their planty friend, the decision is made to head towards Bushroot’s old greenhouse, where he used to perform his experiments.

“Now we just have to find a way to get there,” Gosalyn says. “I’m guessing we can’t steal Negaduck’s motorcycle.”

“He  _ does _ have a truck out in the back,” Lyn murmurs.

“I could get it to start up if I can recharge,” Megavolt says. He’s been frantically drying off for the past few seconds and is much like his old self, though a little slower from a lack of power.

“How quickly can you do that?”

“I can take out the power in this building in a few seconds flat.”

Gosalyn snaps her fingers. “Wait ‘til we get onto the ground floor. It’ll freak ‘em out, too. Then we go around to the back.”

Everyone crowds into the elevator, and Gosalyn sends them to the ground floor. As the elevator rises, so too does the feeling of apprehension among the group. There’s no telling what will be there to meet them on the ground floor.

As the doors slide open, Gosalyn steps in the front to protect the others. Immediately, guards are upon them. Gosalyn doesn’t have the space to shoot arrows, so she relies on her fists instead. In the middle of fighting her way forward into the lobby, all of the lights shut off.

Gosalyn turns and finds Megavolt sparking with electricity. What flashes she can see of his face look incredibly happy.

“Let’s go!” she calls.

The Liquidator has melted partially, so he’s able to move the slightest bit. Bushroot is still healing and can move despite being unable to fight. Quackerjack is probably the fastest out of all of them, and he’s able to fight. However, their main focus is simply on getting  _ out _ of the building. The seven of them spill out onto the streets, and Lyn sprints towards the back with the rest of the group in tow.

“Mr. Sputterspark, now!”

Megavolt zaps a massive truck to life and climbs into the driver’s seat. The rest of them climb onto the truck (or in the Liquidator’s case, get hoisted aboard) as rapidly as possible. Megavolt drives off as soon as he can be sure everyone won’t fall off, and Bushroot begins shouting out directions towards the greenhouse.

Megavolt does take some unnecessary turns in order to prevent them from being followed, but he doesn’t want to run out of power and have them stranded in the middle of nowhere. Although they’re alone by the time they reach the greenhouse, which is in a remote destination far from the prying eyes of the city, Gosalyn still feels as if they’re in some sort of danger. Then again, that just may be the feeling of being in the Negaverse.

Gosalyn props Bushroot onto her shoulder as they enter the greenhouse. He’s feeling much better by now, and the warm, sunny location is incredibly helpful to him. It also allows the Liquidator to melt completely, and he glides around the greenhouse in happiness.

A large plant approaches Bushroot and wraps its vines around him. Gosalyn stares with wide eyes before seeing the happy way Bushroot looks at the other plant.

“Okay, Sparky, calm down!”

Megavolt looks up sharply.

“That’s the plant’s name,” Bushroot explains as he gently pushes the plant in question away. “Since he’s like a dog.”

“Makes sense to me.”

“Keen gear!” Gosalyn exclaims. “Are the plants just gardening themselves?”

Bushroot nods and puts his arm around the plant Sparky. “I felt bad about leaving them alone to go to St. Canard, so I trained them how to sustain the greenhouse. I come over every month to bring supplies.” Bushroot turns and faces the other people living there. “But I don’t think we could stay here for very long. I built this place with the intent of living alone, so it’s mostly for plants.”

“We’ll have to move out soon,” Gosalyn says. “I don’t want Negaduck to find us here and attack this place. Even if we got out okay, it wouldn’t be good for the plants.” Gosalyn looks out the window of the greenhouse. She can see a distant view of St. Canard; the city looks so small from here. It’s almost like when she’s in her dad’s hideout looking at her own St. Canard. God, she misses the city.

Turning to face the others. “I think I’m going to go fight Negaduck on my own. I might be able to find a way to bring him to my St. Canard. He’s a criminal there, so they’d try to arrest him as fast as possible. And my dad could help, too.”

“Are you still hurt from getting your head hit?” Tanker asks.

Gosalyn brings a hand to her head. The bruises still hurt. “I’m feeling a lot better. Anyway, Negaduck’s hurt, too, and I can probably catch him off guard.”

“I’m not sure about that,” Lyn argues. “He’ll probably expect you to come back and fight again.”

“Well...we’ll just have to see. You guys stay here where it’s safe. I probably won’t be able to call you again since I’ll be back in St. Canard.”

The thought of returning home and of having saved them brings her joy, yet to leave them...She feels she’ll never be able to see them again. They’ve already been through a lot, but as much as she wants to stay here and help them, she knows she has to go back to her own home. Anyway, if Negaduck gets arrested in her St. Canard, then the Friendly Four will be safer here.

After saying her goodbyes, and with Megavolt’s help to hotwire the truck, Gosalyn drives back into St. Canard. She’s an experienced driver by now, but most of her experience is with the Ratcatcher or her father’s station wagon. The truck is new to her, but she’s picking it up as she goes. Anyway, who cares if she gets a few scratches on  _ Negaduck’s _ vehicle?

Her luck ends when she reaches the building. As soon as she jumps out of the truck, the guards are upon her, and they drag her into the building. Fighting against them is proven to be fruitless within only a few seconds, so she just accepts her fate as she’s dragged into the elevator.

The guards aren’t interested in hurting her, but she knows it’ll be a different story with Negaduck. He’s always had it out for her since she first donned the name Quiverwing Quack when she was nine, and given recent events, she doubts he’ll show any mercy. She must remain on her guard.

The doors slide open, and the guards push her out into the hallway. Gosalyn shoots a glare in their direction as they lead her into an office.

They shove her into the room and slam the doors closed behind her.

Negaduck’s not at his desk; he’s standing in front and leaning against it. He regards her with extreme disdain as he absentmindedly rubs at his bandaged shoulder. Gosalyn’s afraid to look away from him, as if he’ll try something the moment she takes her eyes off of him. So she keeps her gaze steady and in his direction as she approaches the desk.

“Didn’t your parents ever teach you not to take things that don’t belong to you?” he hisses. Holding out his hand, he says, “My key.”

Gosalyn blinks. Then she feels around in the interior pocket of her jacket. Sure enough, the key is there; she was almost worried she lost it in the middle of the fight. She must have put it in her pocket without thinking about it.

Negaduck’s irritation grows with every passing second, so Gosalyn reaches forward and drops the key into the palm of his hand. He curls his fingers around it and glares up at her. (With him being the same height as her father, she’s slightly taller than him, accentuated by how he’s leaning against the desk.)

“I’m guessing you’re not going to let me leave,” Gosalyn says.

“That would be correct, Miss Quack.”

All at once, several missiles and guns come out from the ceiling of the room. They all aim, immediately, at her face. Gosalyn freezes for just a second. Then she throws herself onto the carpet and rolls away as all of the missiles go off at once. It’s so loud her ears start ringing, but she can’t let that disorient her.

Heart pounding, Gosalyn scrambles to her feet. Instinctively, she goes behind the desk. Then, on a whim, she grabs the chair and throws it at Negaduck. He dodges, and the chair splinters against the wall behind him.

“Do you  _ know _ how expensive that chair was?!” Negaduck shouts.

Gosalyn vaults over the desk and makes a mad dash to the door. At this point, she’s sick and tired of the tower’s elevators, and anyway, she knows he could stop it on the trip down. She bursts through the door to the staircase and slides down the rails.

The guards come after her once she gets down two levels. They’re easy to fight off, but doing both this and rushing down the stairs is getting tir]ing for her. Adrenalin is the main thing keeping her going at this point.

Gosalyn can barely catch her breath by the time she reaches the ground floor. Negaduck is, of course, there waiting for her.

And the door is so close.

It’s a foolish move to run directly towards the door, but she does it anyway. She dodges every guard that comes at her and keeps a keen eye on Negaduck, who’s constantly at her tail.

Once out on the streets, it’s not much better. Gosalyn nearly hacks up a lung from the Negaverse smog; meanwhile, Negaduck barely pays attention to it. With her mind mostly on getting away from him, she sprints across the (luckily empty) street towards the first building she can see. The run-down building they were hiding in just hours ago. Has it really been that short?

“Funny you bring us here, Quiverwing!”

She dodges a kick, then hits the ground and struggles to get back up.

“You know this is where I keep the portal to your St. Canard, right? That way my nosy guards don’t get too curious.”

“The portal,” Gosalyn gasps out. She scrambles to her feet and runs to the back of the bakery.

Negaduck follows. As soon as he enters the backroom, he slams the door shut, sealing their fate. Gosalyn whirls around to face him and begins backing away. She doesn’t want to get cornered, but that may be her only option here.

“You know, I might just pay you guys a visit. I can ruin your dimension just as easily as you ruin mine!”

Gosalyn takes another step back and runs into something. Whirling around, she finds a tall display cake that looks like it’s actually rotting. From the top of the cake comes a swirling green vortex.

“The portal,” Gosalyn hisses.

Negaduck seizes her collar. “And you’re coming with me. I don’t think you’ll want to miss this!”

She’s thrown into the portal, and Negaduck dives in after her. It’s just like the portal Gosalyn went through earlier, only now there’s someone else with her. She soars ahead of him and launches out into the version of St. Canard she grew up in.

There’s no bakery on that end of St. Canard; it’s instead a building that replaced the old bakery Honker used to always get his birthday cakes from.

Gosalyn catches herself, rolls, and stands up. She sprints towards the edge of the roof, but before she can jump to the next building, Negaduck springs out of the portal ready to attack. She dodges a punch, pushes him away, and moves from the edge of the building. Here, it’s higher stakes. Even if she could physically best him in a fight (and at the moment, she’s not sure if she really can).

“Give it up, Negaduck!” Gosalyn shouts. “There’s no way you’re going to get out of this one!”

“I see you learned all of your taunts from Darkwing Duck himself. It’s awfully cliche!”

Gosalyn rolls her eyes and lands another punch. Frankly, she’s tired, especially of this fight. She almost wishes Negaduck would just give up on his own, but of course that could never happen. Even  _ with _ police intervention, he’d just go down fighting. She jumps onto another building, forcing Negaduck to do the same. In the time it takes for him to get to the other building, she shoots a good few arrows at him. Most of them scrape by him, but one of them pins his cape down to the ground. He rips his cape from his suit and moves forward.

By now, some police officers have gathered around the building. Gosalyn casts a glance at them before returning to the fight. Negaduck lands a punch on her chest that stifles her for a few seconds, but she returns with an even more vicious attack. The more she fights, the angrier he gets.

One of the police officers pulls out a megaphone and turns it on. “Quiverwing Quack, please put the bow and arrow down! We appreciate your help, but we can handle this on our own!”

Negaduck takes the momentary distraction to catch his breath. “Might want to listen to them,” he pants out.

“Not on your life, Negaduck!” Gosalyn sprints forward and makes the jump to the next building, which is a bit taller than the last. Once she pulls herself up, she turns her attention towards the cars parked below on the ground. “Officers, I’ve got this!”

Negaduck prepares to follow her to the next building. Before he can, dark blue smoke blows out into the air.

“I am the terror that flaps in the night!”

“Oh boy,” the police officer says, not meaning to have the megaphone on when he mutters it.

“I am the commercial that plays right in the middle of the cliffhanger on your favorite show!”

Gosalyn feels herself being pulled away; she turns and finds Launchpad with a finger pressed to his beak. Following his instructions, he allows her to take her away from the scene.

“You’re Darkwing Duck! I get it!”

Negaduck gets hit in the face.

“I was almost done,” Drake gripes, “you could have let me finish!”

Launchpad takes Gosalyn down from the building. Behind the place, they’re safe from the prying eyes of the police. Gosalyn can still hear them, though, and she has a clearer view of the fight. The police are no use in convincing the two of them not to fight, so really they’re just there for support at the end of it.

“You don’t have to worry about your dad, Gos. Drake has everything under control! Here, let me help you.”

Launchpad takes her over to the Ratcatcher parked in the cement behind the building. She sits down beside it and leans against the sidecar. Although Launchpad is worried for Drake’s safety, he’s also concerned about Gosalyn’s health; she’s gained quite a variety of bruises and cuts.

Grabbing the on-the-go medical kit from the back of the bike, Launchpad begins to patch up Gosalyn. Her focus is placed solely on the fight. She knows her father is probably the best person to fight Negaduck, but she’s also concerned that one of them will fall off the building.

“That was real brave of you, Gos, fighting Negaduck like that!” Launchpad gushes. His main goal is to calm her since she’s acting uncharacteristically silent at the moment. “DW’s got everything handled, though!”

“Look,” Gosalyn says, raising her hand to point at the roof.

Police have already gotten up there and are pulling Negaduck away. Drake raises a thumbs up to them before following the police to handle Negaduck.

Launchpad finishes with the bandages and puts the medical kit away. They’ll likely do a deeper inspection of her injuries later, maybe even send her to the doctor, but she’s fine for now. She remains sitting on the ground beside the Ratcatcher as Drake heads around to the back of the building. Rushing towards her, he kneels down and pulls her into a hug. As quickly as he grabbed her, he lets go and begins rapidly checking her injured face.

“Are you alright, sweetie?”

“I’m fine. It was just some cuts and bruises.”

“Good. Because I thought I told you  _ not _ to deal with Negaduck on your own! Don’t you know he’s the most  _ dangerous _ criminal out there? Even if he  _ is _ only the second-most-wanted—”

“Dad!” Gosalyn interrupts. Despite her relief, irritation is written plainly on her face. “You don’t understand. I went into the Negaverse.”

Drake freezes. “ _ That’s _ where you were? Gosalyn, you were gone for two days. We thought you had been kidnapped. We were looking all over for you!”

“I don’t know what happened. I think Negaduck or someone on the other side opened up a portal, and I accidentally fell through it. I met Lyn and the Friendly Four, but Negaduck went and took them away, so I went and got them back...”

Drake gives Launchpad a look that says, “I’ll explain later.”

“And you brought Negaduck to this St. Canard?”

“I thought it’d be easier here since the only people who really help him out are the Fearsome Four,” Gosalyn explains.

“Nice work, kiddo! But still, incredibly  _ dangerous _ work.”

“I didn’t  _ want _ to go into the Negaverse or anything. But it just happened! I couldn’t just leave the Friendly Four out like that.”

“No, you have a good point. Anyway, I can’t stay mad at you. I’m too relieved and proud.”

Gosalyn puts her arms around him.

“We need to make sure the Friendly Four and Lyn are okay, but...I just want to go home.”

“We’ll see them soon, Gos. Let’s just get some rest for now.”

**Author's Note:**

> this actually took a long time to write. like beyond the fact that it's 10k words.
> 
> i also went through several drafts - rapidly, actually, since i've only been in this fandom for like a month, but it was still frustrating constantly rewriting! i wanted to make something that included both what older gosalyn's like and what the negaverse is like (mainly a focus on the friendly four and their care of gosalyn). i'm glad i came to this story, though.
> 
> still, it's probably riddled with errors. given that i'm generally inept with fighting scenes, this is either a major practice or Actual Hell.
> 
> also, this definitely isn't the last time i write about the quiverwing quack! i love her too much!
> 
> thanks for reading y'all <3


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